First it was Lucky with their February cover of the biggest blogger’s in the game…
…Now Vogue Spain is getting in on the action for its April 2015 cover starring Chiara Ferragni, alone. It seems that the blogging industry is springing out of the bedroom, straight into the bank.
Ferragni broke the news via her own blog, The Blonde Salad, by stating: “I really can’t tell you how much I’m thrilled about it.” The blogging heavy-weight was photographed by Nico Bustos who had her positioned next to three Afghan hounds for the feature.
…Hm, evidently, no costs were spared for the Internet sensation.
More recently, and a little bit closer to home, The Age reported on the front-row prioritisation of the Australian elite – not celebrities or stylists – but the bloggers who report on them, and according to a recent article from WWD, some of the world’s top bloggers are now earning seven-figure sums for their opinions.
Whilst the financial aspect of it is clear (audience clicks equal money), the reason for their appeal and success is a little bit hazier. Marie Claire touted that fashion bloggers essentially “bridge the gap between the shopper and the fashion house” by providing their readers with the most up-to-date advice – and it’s relateable because it comes from someone just like them.
Essentially what we are now seeing in our digital economy is a valuation of everyday people and an emergence of a whole new class of elite.
According to Suzanne Carbone of The Age: “journalists and other traditional occupants of plum catwalk seats are being displaced.” Even more terrifyingly, we all better get used to it.
“It is called the ‘Frow’ – the front row – and a row, as in a tantrum, can occur if a deity isn’t seated where he or she expects to be.
What happens in the front row will no longer stay in the front row because fashion bloggers at the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival will be fitted with hidden cameras to capture the stares, the whispers, the air kisses and raised eyebrows.”
The bloggers that sit within ‘The Frows’ of their respective societies usually secure their position on the top of the media invite list by the amount of follower’s they can boast, and for someone like Chiara Ferragni, that 3.3 million only serves to justify the kind of hype around them.
In a digital landscape that is already in tumult, hopefully at least some of us are able to keep our jobs. Fashion Industry Broadcast will be front and centre at The Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2015 during April, so we’ll be able to relay all the gossip back then… Stay tuned.
